Tuesday, March 22, 2016

The departing divinity in your photo is planning to jump off
the edge on the other end of that cold stony expanse saying, tumharai hai tumi
sambhaalo ye duniya.

The image is all of a piece.

The angular curves and the curving angles (including the
angle of the lifted knee), hemmed in by a cluster of bushes on one end and a
clutch of flowers in a bun.

The erect form of the woman is like a personification of the
resolute strength of the rock under her feet. It would be safe to assume from
the glare of light that her unshod feet could be burning. Instead of rokto
maakha choron eyi mohila ogni pothe ekla cholechhe.

Apropos the text, the stony jagged expanse looks to me like
an amphitheatre designed by nature for non human deliberations and divinity
being a concoction of human consciousness will 'naturally' have no place here.
Being available here is not even an option for gods, their spouses, their
messengers or their semi divine and semi human agents.

Thursday, March 17, 2016

thosemany-hued days of minedid not remain in the golden cage I made for themthey could not bear the bonds of laughter and tearsI had hoped that they would learn the language of the song of my heartbut they flew awaywithout baring their heartsas in a dream I see those dayssome forms that hover around that golden cagenow lying shatteredcan so much pain be imaginaryor are they only shadow birdsthat they said nothing even to the skies

Monday, March 07, 2016

We are used to seeing static, head-on images of Shiva Nataraja, the cosmic dancer. When I was asked to take pictures of a Nataraja idol and some others by the Tamil Nadu Handicrafts Department in 1986, it was delivered to my house, and was standing six-eight feet tall, with a price tag of probably 80 lakhs to one crore. I stared and stared, wondering how to bring motion, dynamism, and, if possible, some rage and action to the picture. In my view, I succeeded, by taking the picture from the side instead of straight on. (You can see some of the other pictures that I took on my website: )

This picture shows Shiva in motion, whirling, his hair flying, as if he has already taken a step forward, is astride, is just about to stamp once more, definitively, on the demon under his feet.

When Siva dances his cosmic dance of knowledgebliss,
The Vedas dance, the Agamas dance, music and dance dance.
The lustrous universe dances, all the living beings dance, the entire world dances,
The primordial sound in which began all life, dances.

The Tamil text of the poem:

As a post-script, I would like to add, for whatever it is worth, that wherever Tamil Nadu had a pavilion in national exhibitions across the country (and some abroad), this picture, together with some others which I had taken, was invariably on display. In the year that I took it, it was first shown in Delhi, where then-President Zail Singh, and the Vice President, Mr. Venkataraman, requested a copy from the Tamil Nadu Government. At least in the case of Mr. Venkataraman, upon his retirement, when he chose to stay on Greenways Road in Chennai, very close to my house, he proudly brought this picture with him from Delhi, and prominently displayed it at home.